More than 70,000 Americans died from drug
overdoses last year. Fifty thousand of those
deaths were caused by synthetic opioids such as
fentanyl and the even more potent carfentanil.

Dealers from almost every U.S. state promote
a continuous flow of these drugs into the
country through online purchases and complex
distribution networks. On the receiving end is a
new era of drug entrepreneurs, fortifying low-quality drugs with cheap and powerful upgrades,
ready to distribute these dangerous cocktails to a
growing number of Americans seemingly willing
to try anything to get high.

New Jersey sees a steady influx of synthetic
opioids annually. This year, authorities confiscated
5 million lethal doses of fentanyl during one
operation alone. The New Jersey Attorney
General’s Office reported nearly 2,800 drug
overdose deaths in 2017, with synthetic opioids
likely responsible for the 24 percent increase in
deaths from the previous year.

As these powerful opioids circulate throughout
the country, they present a significant hazard
to law enforcement. Although the exact risks
of exposure to synthetic opioids are still being
examined, both the Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention and the Drug Enforcement
Agency have cautioned first responders of the
dangers.

The state law enforcement community continues
to ramp up its ability to handle such exposures,
and the New Jersey Department of Corrections’,
Chemical, Ordnance, Biological, Radiological, Aid
(COBRA) teams are at the forefront.

COBRA, a division of the Department’s Special
Operations Group (SOG), has helped to increase
the state’s chemical response readiness through
cross-training exercises with hazardous material
technicians from the New Jersey State Police, the
Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) and, most
recently, the New Jersey National Guard’s 21st
Weapons of Mass Destruction-Civil Defense Team.

“This exercise was an extremely unique
opportunity for COBRA members to cross
train with one of the leading hazmat teams
in the nation,” Correctional Police Sergeant
Kevin McGowan of SOG’s Office of Emergency
Management said.

The exercise focused on the planning and
execution of a reconnaissance mission after an
unidentified hazardous chemical surfaced in a
simulated prison environment. The joint teams
completed the drill with a run-through of the
tactical decontamination process.

Tactical decontamination, one of COBRA’s
specialized functions, involves the rapid assembly
of intricate decontamination stations. The group
uses several stages to safely secure weapons,
quarantine contaminated gear and decontaminate
personnel. COBRA’s expertise is considered a
significant asset in chemical response training
and incident support to the State Police, and the
Philadelphia Division of the FBI, which covers
Camden, Gloucester and Salem counties in New
Jersey.

“NJDOC is the go-to agency for weapons and
tactical decontamination,” Special Agent Erik
R. Negron, FBI Hazardous Materials Team
Leader, said after a COBRA training exhibition
designed to demonstrate best practices in tactical
decontamination to local law enforcement.

NJDOC Senior Correctional Police Officer
John McKay, educated local law enforcement
officers about the risks of exposure to controlled
dangerous chemicals in a variety of scenarios.
He also discussed the importance and process
of a thorough and systematic approach to
decontamination.

“A tactical team is executing a warrant, going into
a house doing some room clearing, next thing you
know, you run into a chemical lab. How are we not
going to bring that stuff home to our kids and our
wives and our families?” McKay asked.

Because of the potential stress caused by a
situation involving chemical exposure, COBRA
team members have different specialties to
organize and expedite the decontamination
process.

“Guys coming out of a situation are likely thinking
one thing, ‘Just get me out of here,’” McKay said,
“So you have somebody to help you every step of
the way, if necessary, from firearms to electronics
to tactical gear.”

Police canines are particularly at risk for inhaling
synthetic opioids, so COBRA incorporates canine
decontamination in its incident response planning.
“NJDOC has 26 dogs and 13 handlers, so we train
a lot with them,” McKay said. “We have to decon
that dog if he gets exposed to something, so
we have a canine shower and special handling
practices.”

COBRA currently has three teams assigned to
the southern, central and northern regions of the
state. They advocate interagency communication
and training to encourage statewide readiness for
hazardous materials response and to help smaller
agencies without specific hazardous material
teams to develop their own plan of action.

“We’re in an age where we should realize we
can’t do everything ourselves,” McKay said. “We
have to reach out and start encouraging mutual
aid. You don’t know when or where you’ll come
into contact with [hazardous chemicals], so you
want to have that hazmat asset in your command
post.”

John Cokos, a former Navy Mass Communication Specialist, began working for the New Jersey Department of Corrections’ Office of Public Information in May 2018.

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